C9A pumwI' (Accuser) Class
Originally a refit of the earlier C9 Puw'Leth (Sawblade) Class Battleship, the pumwl' (Accuser) Class is one of the most well-rounded, powerful warships in service. She is a large and powerful ship used in fleet engagements and as the leader of large battle groups. She is one of the largest vessels equipped with a Cloaking Device as standard equipment. Development The original D7 qItI'tinga' (Great Powerful Conqueror) Class was designed as a replacement for the ageing D6A Kl'ar (Leader) Class. The Kl'ar had already proven to be increasingly obsolescent by the late 2230s and a larger, more capable Cruiser was required. Essentially a scaled up and "fleshed out" D6A, the D7 out performed her smaller progenitor in every way. She was faster, more heavily armed, more heavily armoured and shielded and possessed the latest in sensor technology available to the Klingon Empire at that time. Given her basis on a proven design, the introduction of the D7 proceeded quickly beginning in 2242. Production was accelerated, as were withdrawals of the D6A, following the disastrous incursions into Federation space in 2244, 2246 and most seriously in 2248 at the Battle of Bernard. Complete replacement had occurred by 2250, with 2/3rds of the D6A's in service being transferred to the Romulan Star Empire and the remainder being converted for specialised duties. In 2255, after the acquisition of Cloaking Technology from the Romulans, the qItI'tinga' received her first refit, becoming the D7A. Captains were ordered to only engage or disengage the Cloaking Device when outside of Federation sensor range, so as to keep the device a secret from Starfleet Intelligence. This directive was followed successfully for many years, and Federation analysts were unaware of the usage of Cloaking Devices by the Klingon Empire until the beginning of the 2270s. It was around this time that Klingon Tacticians began to devise an even bigger, even more powerful Cruiser. Klingon Doctrine of the time focused attacks around the power of Klingon Defence Force Cruisers, both Heavy and Light. All other classes were designed to support the Cruisers in their attacks. However it was acknowledged that advancing on sheer numbers is an unsound military tactic, and that a larger vessel would be optimal for attacking particularly fortified positions. Problems arose from the start however when, given the political climate at the time and desperate to increase the power and prestige of their house, House Gar'Oth (designers of the new warship) massively overstated her capabilities. This did however have one unexpected benefit; Starfleet Intelligence caught wind of the exaggerated claims made by House Gar'Oth and were convinced the Klingon Empire was producing a warship that no Federation starship could hope to match. The prototype C8 Ber'Taa (Bird of Blood) Class was launched in 2262 and immediately the falsity of her design specifications was revealed. She could barely make warp factor 4.8 when her designers claimed that she would have Cruiser-like speed. She was sluggish at impulse power also, suffered from onboard power shortages, and was cumbersome even for a ship of her size. The failure of the Ber'Taa was an immense embarrassment to the High Council and the Klingon Defence Force. Whilst publicly the Ber'Taa was praised, plans were set in motion to replace her in service as soon as was plausible. Quickly the failings of the Ber'Taa were identified, and studies drawn up for designs to replace her. Progress was slow, limited by the technology of the time and doctrines that insisted on Cruisers as the main striking force of the KDF. Eventually, a design materialised that was finally accepted into production. Doctrines were gradually changing, and the need arose for a command ship. Compared to the Ber'Taa, the new C9 Puw'Leth (Sawblade) Class had reduced Secondary armament, only a pair of Photon Torpedo Tubes, but a much stronger hull, increased performance at warp speed, and a heavier Primary Weapons array. At impulse she was slower, but this was not a considerable problem given as she was never intended to keep up with Cruiser Squadrons. The Puw'Leth became the first Battleship in the Klingon Defence Force and one of the most powerful vessels of the 2270s. Increased numbers of later designs, such as the C7 Qo'NoS (Kronos) Class, reduced the need for large numbers of Battleships and in 2280 several Puw'Leths were traded to the Romulan Star Empire and became the basis for their Condor Class Dreadnought. In 2282, the Tholians unleashed a new class of ship on several Klingon outposts on the Klingon-Tholian border. This large ship was more than a match for the Klingon forces that could be fielded against it at the time. After a period of three months of the enemy’s unbridled rampaging throughout the border area, a massed attack on the ship finally succeeded in destroying it. The battle was extraordinarily costly in terms of ships and lives and forced Klingon High Command to rethink its battle strategies. The most apparent change to be made was the acquisitions of a large and powerful vessel not only to provide a devastating punch, but also to coordinate the disparate forces involved in larger battles. Tactics were developed whereby the large ship would salvo an enemy vessel from long range to get the enemy’s attention. When the enemy turned to engage the large ship, the smaller vessels would charge in to attack the enemy’s engines. Once the enemy was immobile, the large ship would then move in for the kill. Shortly thereafter, the Jevghom Design Bureau submitted the designs for a refit of their existing Puw'Leth Class, which fit this new tactical doctrine perfectly. Because of the speed and perfection of the Jevghom submission, there were many accusations of collusion or complicity with the Tholians in the border attacks. Many were killed in the subsequent honour duels, and none of the accusations were proven. In response to this hullabaloo, the engineers and designers at Jevghom renamed their design for the Puw'Leth Refit to pumwl’ (Accuser). One noteworthy feature of the pumwl' design was the inclusion of an unusual new weapon in her arsenal. The Anti-matter Field Projector, or AMFP was an experiment in creating a powerful "main gun" for a Capital Ship. It functioned by safely drawing anti-matter from the warp reactor of a vessel and projecting it along a modified Tractor Beam onto a target. Whilst simple in concept, creating a particle cascade strong enough to cause significant damage to a target without unduly draining a ships reactor or destroying the Tractor Beam Emitter. The engineers at Jevghom succeeded through exciting the anti-matter molecules with the Tractor Beam Emitter as they were propelled toward their target. Whilst successfully deployed on the pumwl', power consumption proved too great for it to be fit to other vessels. Operational History The prototype, the the IKS pumwl’ was launched in 2283 and immediately took up station on the Tholian border, waiting for the chance to prove herself against the Tholians. She had only been on station for two months when she got her chance. A Tholian taskforce had been dispatched on a mission to plunder the Thaleris Asteroid Belt of dilithium and other valuable mineral resources. A small mining outpost reported the incursion and the pumwl’ leapt into action. The pumwl’ and her battlegroup decimated the Tholians with only minimal losses. However, victory celebrations were cut short when the pumwl’ was lost with all hands three months later in an ion storm. Despite this loss, the success of the pumwl' was evident. Tensions were rising and further ships of the class were constructed, with a third of the total order completed by the outbreak of the Organian Conflict in 2285. During the invasion of the Federation, the pumwl' was at the core of the KDFs heavy strike fleets. They were feared and loathed by Starfleet crews, being capable of standing toe-to-toe with the newest Starfleet vessels in service in 2285. Eventually the balance of power swung back toward equilibrium, with the new Ulysses and Missouri Class starships entering service as the war progressed, but the pumwl' remained a formidable foe. She was supplanted as the most powerful vessel in the KDF in 2288 with the launch of the first B11 qeyLIS bet'Leth (Sword of Kahless) Class. She shone again during the War of Pacification, brawling with the best the ISC could throw at her, although combat with Concordium Dreadnoughts was often a close call. During the Ormong of 2291, the few pumwl' Class vessels controlled by each side were kept closely guarded, although the IKM mupwl commanded by Melkor himself was critically damaged. The heaviest losses for the class came during the General War of 2292, although several of these were mere operational losses and their wrecks were salvaged and restored to service. Apocrypha The loss of the Tal'Ihnor Gates System and the explosion of the moon Praxis left the Empire with a critical energy shortage. The ecological damage wrought to the homeworld of Qo'NoS also put a halt to any plans for the further construction of larger Klingon warship designs, the pumwl' being one such design The pumwl' Class ships in service were refurbished over the years and remained in service until the 2330s by which time they were obsolete. Specifications * Class: 'Dreadnought * 'Hull Type Designation: '''KDN * '''Length: 610m * Crew: 660 * Warp Nacelles: '''5 * '''Maximum Sublight Speed: 2850 k/s (28.5 Mk/s) * Cruise Warp Factor Speed: wf 7.2 * Safe Maximum Warp Factor Speed: wf 8.5 * Hull Rating: '550 HSF * 'Shield Rating: 830 FSP * Sensor Rating: 600 SRU * Armament and Equipment: ** Primary *** 5 × Disruptor Cannon ** Secondary *** 2 × Heavy Photon Torpedo Tube ** Heavy *** None ** Advanced *** 1 × Anti-Matter Field Projector (AMFP) ** Equipment *** Tractor Beam Emitter *** Klingon-Type Cloaking Device *** Probes *** Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) *** 3 × D'ktagh (Dagger) Shuttle Ships in Service (2292) IKS Hon'Gih IKS poqawD IKS NupG'HoGH IKS HiQ'ToG IKS Ta'J'Khoq IKS Ma'RoQ'th IKS Qo'tHk'ogH IKS Ka'LiQ IKS To'GH'LiQ IKS Ja'Choq IKS VaQ'TogH IKS Tha'NuQ'tH IKS Ja'KoQ IKS Pwl'ToQ IKS TeHk'Ta Category:Klingon Vessels Category:Dreadnoughts